Understanding Young Thug

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Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion. He first received attention for his collaborations with rappers Rich Homie Quan, Future, Birdman, Cash Out, Shawty Lo and Gucci Mane. Young Thug initially released a series of independent mixtapes beginning in 2011 with I Came from Nothing. In early 2013, he signed with Gucci Mane's 1017 Records, and later that year he released his label debut mixtape 1017 Thug to critical praise.
Young Thug received mainstream recognition in 2014 with the singles "Stoner" and "Danny Glover" in addition to appearances on several singles, including T.I.'s "About the Money" and Rich Gang's "Lifestyle." That year, he also signed to Lyor Cohen's 300 Entertainment and collaborated on the mixtape Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1. In 2015, he released a number of mixtapes, including Barter 6 and two installments of his Slime Season series. These were followed in 2016 by the commercial mixtapes I'm Up, Slime Season 3, and Jeffery. In 2018, he released a compilation album Slime Language showcasing the artists he has signed to his own label YSL Records. Young Thug is also known for his feature on the hit song "Havana" by pop singer Camila Cabello. The song was a commercial success reaching number one in multiple countries, including the US where it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2018, becoming Young Thug's first number one single.
Young Thug was awarded the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for his songwriting contributions to "This Is America" along with Donald Glover and Ludwig Göransson.
Young Thug was featured in Calvin Klein's Fall 2016 fashion campaign, along with Frank Ocean among others. On July 9, 2016, he announced his self-titled mixtape Jeffery was coming out soon. On August 16, 2016, Thug announced he would change his name to Jeffery for one week, the week during the release of the Jeffery mixtape. The album artwork features Young Thug dressed in an androgynous dress designed by Italian designer Alessandro Trincone, and was photographed by Garfield Lamond. The artwork went viral and prompted a wide range of responses on social media.
In November 2016, he announced he was starting his own record label imprint called YSL records. Thug provided vocals on Drake's songs "Sacrifices" and "Ice Melts" on the album More Life. He was featured on Calvin Harris' song "Heatstroke" along with Ariana Grande and Pharrell Williams, released in March 2017. In May 2017, he featured in the Diplo song "Bankroll" which also features Justin Bieber and Rich the Kid.
In April 2017, Young Thug announced the commercial mixtape Beautiful Thugger Girls, originally titled E.B.B.T.G. The project was executively-produced by Drake and was released on June 16, 2017. In August, he featured on Camila Cabello's single "Havana", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first number one hit.
In September 2017, he released a joint EP with DJ Carnage titled Young Martha. In October 2017, Thug released a collaborative mixtape with Future titled Super Slimey. It includes tracks recorded by each of the artists individually as well as both together, and features guest vocals from rapper Offset.
In 2018, the single "Ride for Me" was released as a collaboration by A-Trak, Falcons, Young Thug and 24hrs via A-Trak's record label Fool's Gold. He released the EP Hear No Evil in April 2018. Young Thug co-wrote and provided background vocals on Childish Gambino's "This Is America", which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for May 19, 2018. In August 2018, he released another compilation album, Slime Language.
In May 2019, Young Thug released the song "The London", a collaboration with J. Cole and Travis Scott, and also announced his forthcoming project, Gold Mouf Dog.
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